Big Sky Film Institute

Youth education and native filmmaker initiative film club the big sky film institute (bsfi) delivers educational programs that promote media literacy and create opportunities for students, educators, filmmakers, and families to access and engage with documentary film. Through workshops, classroom programs, and virtual outreach, bsfi helps participants critically evaluate media, understand the documentary form, and tell their own stories. The native filmmaker initiative film club extends this mission statewide by screening indigenous-made documentary films in classrooms across montana. Following each screening, filmmakers connect with students through inspired classroom's video technology for q&a sessions and discussions aligned with montana's indian education for all essential understandings. The program, facilitated by bsfi in collaboration with the montana office of public instruction's indian education specialist, mike jetty, fosters dialogue on cultural representation and the art of filmmaking.

The big sky film institute provides fiscal sponsorship and administrative support to indigenous filmmakers and storytellers throughout montana. This program enables filmmakers to seek grant funding, receive tax-deductible donations, and manage project funds under bsfi's 501(c)(3) status. Through this support, bsfi strengthens the capacity of native artists to develop, produce, and distribute documentary films that reflect indigenous perspectives and communities. Bsfi provides financial management, compliance oversight, and access to industry resources, advancing equity and representation in the documentary field.